KNSN-TV, virtual channel 21 (UHF digital channel 20), is a primary sports-formatted independent and secondary MyNetworkTV-affiliated television station licensed to Reno, Nevada, United States.
Owned by Deerfield Media, the station is operated under joint sales and shared services agreements (JSA/SSA) by the Sinclair Broadcast Group, making it sister to Fox affiliate KRXI-TV, channel 11 (which is owned by Sinclair outright), and NBC affiliate KRNV-DT, channel 4 (which is owned by Cunningham Broadcasting and managed by Sinclair under a separate JSA).
However, Sinclair effectively owns KRNV as the majority of Cunningham's stock is owned by the family of deceased group founder Julian Smith. The three stations share studios on Vassar Street in Reno; KNSN's transmitter is located on Red Hill between US 395 and SR 445 in Sun Valley (on a tower shared with PBS member station KNPB, channel 5). On cable, KNSN is available on Charter Spectrum channel 7 and in high definition on digital channel 787.
History
Previous logo of KAME-TV as a primary MyNetworkTV affiliate.
The station launched on October 11, 1981, as KAME-TV, an independent station airing movies (TV-21's The Big Movie), cartoons, westerns, and sitcoms. On October 9, 1986, it became a charter Fox affiliate. On January 16, 1995, KAME-TV picked up UPN on a secondary basis; it became a full-time UPN affiliate on January 1, 1996, after KRXI signed-on and took Fox.
Between September 1996 and May 1997, the station was briefly owned by Raycom Media. With the 2006 shutdown and merger of The WB and UPN to form The CW, the station joined News Corporation–owned and Fox sister network MyNetworkTV on September 5, 2006.
On June 20, 2012, Cox Media Group announced that it put KRXI and the LMA for KAME-TV, along with stations in Steubenville, Ohio, Johnstown, Pennsylvania and El Paso, Texas, on the market following its purchase of four television stations in Jacksonville, Florida, and Tulsa, Oklahoma from Newport Television.
On February 25, 2013, Cox announced that it would sell the four television stations, and the LMA for KAME-TV, to Sinclair Broadcast Group; as part of the deal, Ellis Communications would sell KAME-TV to Deerfield Media.[3] The FCC granted its approval on April 30, 2013, one day after it approved the sale of the sister station, KRXI. The sale was finalized on May 2, 2013.
Sinclair would subsequently purchase the non-license assets of a third Reno station, KRNV-DT, on November 22, 2013. Sinclair could not buy KRNV-DT outright because Reno has only six full-power stations—three too few to legally permit a duopoly. With the sale of KRNV's license to Cunningham, Sinclair now controls half of those stations.
The sale also created a situation in which a Fox affiliate is the nominal senior partner in a duopoly involving an NBC affiliate and a "Big Three" station.
On August 31, 2018, Sinclair announced that KAME-TV would relaunch as "Nevada Sports Net," which would feature extended coverage of Nevada Wolf Pack athletics, as well as the Reno Aces and the Mountain West Conference. The station would also air MyNetworkTV on a secondary basis. The new format launched on September 1. At that time, NSN took over KRNV's sports department.
On July 15, 2019, the station's call sign was changed to KNSN-TV.
